Destructive Ice Storm hits Oklahoma

wintry mix, including a swath of freezing rain is spreading northeastward from Oklahoma and will overtake many areas in the central Mississippi and the Ohio Valley tonight and Tuesday.

A state of emergency was issued for all of Oklahoma Monday afternoon by Governor Brad Henry as freezing rain fell on much of the state with temperatures in the 20s.

Due to the amount of moisture available to this storm, and stubborn cold air in the low levels of the atmosphere, many people from the central Plains to southwestern Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee could be facing a prolonged period of power outages and dangerous travel, even after the storm departs.

Freezing drizzle, light freezing rain and sleet will continue to spread northeastward from the southern Plains tonight. Even a light coating of ice will cause sidewalks and roadways to become slippery.

The storm will make travel on foot, by vehicle and in the air difficult. De-icing activities and the winter storm conditions at major airports will have ripple-effect delays over a large part of the nation tonight through Wednesday.

The icing will continue to develop and shift eastward early tonight, impacting northeastern Oklahoma, southern Kansas, northern Arkansas and southern Missouri first. Next in line for the eastward-moving ice storm will be southern Illinois, southwestern Ohio, Kentucky and parts of Tennessee late tonight and Tuesday.

Some of these areas will have heavy freezing rain. Others will change from heavy snow to heavy ice. The coverage and magnitude of the developing ice storm could surpass that of the New England ice storm earlier this winter.

The potential exists for 0.25 to 0.75 of an inch of ice to accumulate in the aforementioned corridor late tonight through Tuesday. Some areas could even have a build-up of more than an inch of ice on trees and power lines.

The weight of ice will bring down trees and power lines, causing power outages. Since the area coverage of the storm may be vast, some locations could be without power for days.

Some cities at risk for heavy icing include Cape Girardeau, Mo., Paducah and Lexington, Ky. and Cincinnati. The heaviest icing will include a large part of Kentucky, which will begin late tonight.

Some residents of the mid-Atlantic will also need to be prepared for ice. Freezing rain and sleet are anticipated to expand farther east through the Virginias and possibly into parts of Maryland and Delaware Tuesday and Tuesday night. The mountain-valley regime from eastern Kentucky to western Virginia could be especially vulnerable, where cold air remains trapped in the deeper valleys.

We are supposed to get up to 10 inches of snow in extreme southern Illinois tonight. Lived in SD, MN, WI, & MI. This would be a bad storm even in those places, let alone someplace that rarely sees this kind of weather.

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